In my co-pending application U.S. Ser. No. 10/908,514 filed May 16, 2005 there is disclosed telescoping and swiveling hitch assembly for interconnecting towing and towed vehicles. This application is hereby incorporated by reference. The hitch assembly may be mounted on either the towed or towing vehicle and allows remote releasable coupling between proximately located vehicle using a telescoping and pivoting probe assembly.
The hitch assembly is particularly suitable for heavy vehicle applications that may be readily deployed for final coupling by rough relative positioning of the vehicles. The hitch assembly comprises only two unitized subassemblies, a housing assembly and a tow bar or probe assembly. Under certain circumstances, the towed vehicle may become abruptly disabled, requiring immediate decoupling to enable the towing vehicle to resume operation or go to other situations.